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A jury of 12, seven men and five women, was selected Thursday in New York for the criminal trial of former President Donald Trump over payments made to silence two women who say they had sex with him. .
The jury will hear allegations that the 45th president conspired in 2016, shortly before the start of his successful presidential campaign, to hide cash payments to two women who claim they had extramarital affairs with him.
Prosecutors allege that Mr Trump tried to hide compromising information about his private life from US voters shortly before the 2016 presidential election.
But Mr. Trump, who served as president from 2017 to 2021 and is expected to be the Republican nominee in this year's Nov. 5 election, has denied all 34 felony charges in the indictment filed against him a year ago.
If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to four years in prison.
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan said opening arguments in the case could begin Monday morning in a trial that could last six weeks.
Jury selection followed the removal of two of the 7 jurors who were selected on Tuesday. A member selected for the trial jury withdrew after raising doubts about whether she would be able to act impartially and fairly. The second was removed after he did not appear in court to clarify some of the answers given during the questions directed earlier.
Seven members of the jury were sworn in on Tuesday.
Prosecutors on Thursday asked Judge Juan M. Merchan to take action against Mr. Trump over seven new social media posts that prosecutors say violate previous orders barring him from attacking witnesses. Prosecutors had asked on Monday that Mr Trump be found guilty of defying the court order and fined for three other posts.
Former President Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records to try to cover up stories that could damage his 2016 campaign.
The allegations relate to payments to two women, pornographic actress Stormy Daniels and Playboy magazine model Karen McDougal, who have said they had sex with Mr Trump years ago. The accusations are also related to the case of a guard at the entrance of Trump Tower, who claimed to have knowledge of a child that Mr. Trump had from an extramarital affair. The former president has denied that any of these sexual relations took place.
This is the first criminal case against Mr. Trump to go to trial.
HOW THE FIRST MEMBER OF THE JURY WAS WITHDRAWN
A selected juror recused herself after telling the court she felt concerned about her ability to be impartial.
Although the names of the jurors have not been released, the nurse said that "after thinking about it at night, she had concerns about her ability to be fair and impartial in this court case," Judge Merchan said before to call him to the hall to ask him questions.
She said family members and friends had raised questions about her future role as a juror.
Criticizing the media for releasing details of the jurors, Judge Merchan said: “There's a reason why this is an anonymous jury. It defeats that purpose when so much information is made public that it can make it very easy for anyone to identify who the jurors are."
"The press clearly has the right to write about anything that is included in the official records," added the judge.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SECOND MEMBER REMOVED FROM THE JURY
The status of the second member removed from the jury on Thursday was called into question after the person did not appear in court to answer some further questions. Prosecutors had uncovered an article from the 1990s about a man of the same name who had been arrested for ripping off political ads in Westchester County. The ads were politically right-wing, Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass said. He also reported that a relative of the same person may have been part of a deal to drop a 1990 investigation of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, which is the same office investigating the case against Mr. Trump.
Judge Juan M. Merchan ordered the man to appear in court at 9:15 a.m. Thursday to answer further questions about him or his relatives. He did not appear in court.
The judge mentioned the "apparent reluctance to appear" and asked the parties if they would agree to remove this person from the jury without the need for further questioning. Former President Trump's lawyer, Todd Blanche, initially said he would like to hear what answers the jurors would give. When questioned earlier this week, the man said he had never been convicted.
PROSECUTORS SEEK ACTION AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP FOR NEW POSTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Prosecutors told Judge Merchan on Thursday they want the former president to be found guilty and punished for seven new posts they say violate earlier court orders.
Mr Trump's new posts came after prosecutors had earlier on Monday sought a $3,000 fine for three more posts on the Truth Social network.
Prosecutor Christopher Conroy said some of the new posts related to an article describing Mr Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, as "a serial fraudster". Another post Wednesday repeated a claim originally made by a Fox News anchor that liberal activists were lying to get jurors.
Mr. Trump's lawyer, Emil Bove, said that Mr. Cohen "has attacked President Trump in public statements" and that Mr. Trump was only responding to him.
Judge Merchan has scheduled a hearing for next week at the request of the prosecution to consider the possibility of punishment for Mr. Trump's posts.
JUDGE ORDERS JOURNALISTS NOT TO REPORT WHO JURY MEMBERS' EMPLOYERS ARE
Judge Juan M. Merchan criticized the media for reporting details about jurors that could be used to identify them. The judge ordered that answers given by juror candidates about their past or present employers not be reported.
"As proven by what has happened so far, this is a problem," the judge said Thursday.
He also instructed journalists to "stick to logic" and avoid reporting on the physical characteristics of jurors.
"We just lost someone who could have been a very good juror," the judge continued. "She said she felt intimidated by the press, by all the press." /VOA
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